NORTHERN COUNCILS COLLABORATIVELY ADDRESS THE RISKS OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS TO THE REGION

GE Free Northland welcomes the recommendations of the Inter Council Working Party on GMOs, publicly released yesterday on behalf of its member councils from south Auckland to Cape Reinga. The ICWP on GMOs has produced draft planning provisions, a section 32 evaluation supporting those provisions, and a legal opinion from Dr. Royden Somerville QC, for the Northland /Auckland councils to consider.

The councils have carried out a thorough evaluation of the necessity for regulation of GMOs at a district and/ or regional level, in addition to national regulation under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act.

"We congratulate Whangarei, Kaipara and Far North District Council and Auckland Council for funding this collaborative work, which confirms the widely held view that a strong precautionary approach to GMOs, or even outright prohibition, is necessary to prevent potentially enormous costs falling on ratepayers from damage arising from GE experiments or release of GE organisms", said Martin Robinson, spokesperson for GE Free Northland

GE Free Northland is holding a strategic meeting, regarding the NRC Regional Policy Statement review, and how we can constructively participate in the next round of submissions...and also good news regarding the innovative work of the Northland / Auckland INTER COUNCIL WORKING PARTY ON GMO RISK EVALUATION & MANAGEMENT OPTIONS

ALL welcome :)

Thanks to everyone who already made submissions to the NRC proposed RPS...but there is more to be done to achieve sound environmental and economic outcomes in our region

GE Free NZ and Bay of Plenty ratepayers who were original submitters to a local Bay of Plenty plan have received notice of an appeal to the Environment Court, lodged by NZ Crown Research Institute Scion. This appeal contests the Environment Bay of Plenty Regional council's (BOPRC) "Precautionary approach" to GMO release and field trialling in the region.

GE not in our best interest

The United States State Department and American multinational companies have been pushing for the release of genetically engineered food into the New Zealand environment at a biotechnology conference being held in Rotorua this week, the Green Party said today.

The ABIC 2012 conference being held in Rotorua is dubbed the 'World Cup' of biotechnology and has seen a huge push from vested interests for GE release into the environment despite public opposition to such a move.

"The primary benefactors of Genetic Engineering (GE) are US corporate interests not New Zealand farmers," Green Party primary production spokesperson Steffan Browning said.

"The GE focused ABIC 2012 conference in Rotorua this week, is clearly part of a strong push towards GE farming in Aotearoa New Zealand by large multinational companies and Washington.

"The US State Department presence at the Rotorua conference shows that pushing GE is part of US foreign policy as much as it is in the interests of big corporates like DuPont and Monsanto.

"Consumers around the world don't want a bar of GE and if New Zealand wants to continue reaping the benefits of exporting high value-added produce, we need to steer clear.

"GE will not enable more exports - it risks locking our produce out of markets and tarnishing our clean green brand. GE is not smart, green economics.

The upcoming conference titled “Adapting to a Changing World” run by GE multinationals Monsanto and DuPont has sparked intense debate throughout Aotearoa and Māori communities. Te Waka Kai Ora (the National Māori Organics Authority Aotearoa) takes a strong stand against Genetic Modification and the insidious campaigns by such multinationals to push their agenda on indigenous communities. Te Waka Kai Ora act as the facilitators for Hua Parakore maara kai (pure food growing), using a tikanga based verification system which encourages the use of GE-free, nano-free, pesticide and chemical-free production methods, while enhancing their whanau and community aspirations.

Now is the time to influence what the Northland Regional Council does for the next 10 years – with our ratepayer $$$. NRC is currently asking for your feedback on our Draft Long Term Plan- don't miss out!

In addition to any other environmental concerns you may have (protection of Northland public and conservation lands from mining and so forth, how to better protect Northland freshwater lakes and rivers), it is important that Northlanders let the NRC know that the very short (and rather weak) precautionary GE policy written in the NRC draft LTCP needs strengthening.

Whangarei District Council has an excellent, strong precautionary GE policy in its draft LTCCP 2012/22- NRC needs to lift its game!

NRC NEEDS TO DO MORE TO SUPPORT NORTHLAND TERRITORIAL AUTHORITIES AND THE AUCKLAND COUNCIL IN KEEPING RISKY GMOs OUT OF THE REGION

GE Free Northland are pleased by the NRC decision yesterday to reaffirm its own precautionary GE policy and to appoint NRC Chairman Craig Brown to represent the council on the Inter Council Working Party on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).

"We are concerned, however, that the NRC failed to vote to contribute funds towards the collaborative section 32 analysis on GMOs that all Northland territorial authorities and Auckland Council are undertaking," said Martin Robinson, GE Free Northland spokesperson.

There is sustained concern in Northland and other parts of New Zealand, about genetic engineering (GE) experiments and releases in this country, particularly in view of the documented adverse impacts of GMOs overseas and inadequately contained GE experiments in NZ.

“Nonetheless, central government continues to ignore local community and independent scientists concerns about GMOs,” said Mr. Robinson.

"Therefore, the NRC needs to put its shoulder to the wheel and support its territorial authorities and Auckland Council and contribute funding to the important current work programme of the ICWP on GMOs".

"The NRC is supposed to be the over arching environmental protection authority for the region. In addition, NRC contributing funds would be a fiscally prudent move- as by doing the work collaboratively, councils can share costs and staff expertise".

NRC Chairman Craig Brown responds:

"Having been involved in the process of investigating the risks of GMOs for well over 10 years, I am disappointed that my council did not